The Executive Director of Youth Placement for Employability Solutions Ghana (Y-PES Ghana), Mumuni Sulemana, has disclosed that recent research by the organisation shows 91.2% of Ghanaian youth are unaware of the National Youth Policy. He explained that this lack of awareness has greatly hindered young people’s ability to demand accountability from duty-bearers and to fully benefit from policies intended to protect and empower them.
Mr. Sulemana made the revelation during a leadership training programme for elected student leaders from senior high schools in the Upper West Region. Addressing participants in Wa, he expressed concern over what he described as widespread ignorance among the youth regarding their rights and responsibilities under the policy. He explained that many young people are unable to advocate for themselves because they are not informed about the contents of the policy document.
“So once they are supposed to hold duty-bearers accountable, and they are not even privy to this very document, automatically they become completely ignorant and once you are ignorant, you know what it means. You are unable to make the best use of whatever that you should have had knowledge on,” he added.
The Y-PES Ghana Executive Director further noted that the lack of access to information on the National Youth Policy continues to negatively affect the development and participation of young people in governance and national development. He stressed the need for intensified public education and sensitisation campaigns to ensure that young people across the country become familiar with the policy and understand how to use it to advance their interests.
The leadership training programme brought together elected student leaders from different senior high schools across the Upper West Region and focused on leadership development, civic responsibility, and youth participation in governance.
Source: Martina Maasonoo Zaabog
